164 KAMBLES OF A NATUKALIST. 



To save Saint- Jean-de-Luz by any direct means of 

 defence would, therefore, appear to be impossible, 

 and experience seems to show that a more successful 

 result would hardly be attained by attempting to 

 defend it by a line of advanced works. Vauban pro- 

 posed to close the bay by means of two moles which, 

 resting upon the rocks of Saint Barbara and Point 

 Socoa, would have left only a very narrow passage 

 between them. Towards the end of the last century 

 an attempt seems to have been made to put this plan 

 into execution, but after several fruitless trials it was 

 found necessary to relinquish the project. The dyke 

 of Saint Barbara, which had been advanced about 

 two hundred yards, is now entirely abandoned, while 

 that of the Socoa has been adapted to a wholly local 

 purpose, and now merely serves to protect the fort 

 with a small harbour adjoining it. Thus Saint-Jean- 

 de-Luz, or at least all the portion of the town which 

 separates the bay from the harbour, is irretrievably 

 doomed to destruction. 



Such was already the opinion of Napoleon when he 

 visited the town, and far from thinking it expedient 

 to pursue this struggle with the ocean, he rather 

 wished to yield to it at certain points in order the 

 better at others to avail himself of its power. Ac- 

 cording to the plans which were drawn up under his 

 own immediate direction, the town was to be destroyed 

 as far inland as the church, by which a free passage 

 would be opened to the sea in the direction of the 

 low and shallow land, through which the Nivelle 

 takes its course. A harbour dug out behind the 

 mountain of Siboure would have afforded safe shelter 



